The present invention relates to improvements in a winding apparatus for a sheet-shaped molding material. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for winding, in a roll shape around a cylindrical core tube for subsequent transport and storage purposes, a sheet-shaped molding material, wherein both the top and bottom faces of a compound of a solid material such as glass fiber or the like and a paste-like material such as resin or the like, which compound material is continuously produced by an impregnating apparatus, are grasped between carrier films. The core tube is detachably mounted in and rotated by the winding apparatus, which has a pair of right and left winding sections for winding the sheet-shaped molding material, and after the winding operation of the sheet-shaped molding material around the core tube disposed in one of the winding sections has been finished, the winding is next effected around a core tube disposed in the other of the winding sections. The winding apparatus sequentially winds the sheet-shaped molding material which is continuously fed in a roll shape around the core tube by the repetition of the above procedure.
Conventionally, a flexible sheet-shaped molding material grasped between carrier films is a compound composed of a paste-like material chiefly made of resin and impregnated with glass fiber. It is difficult to retain the shape thereof immediately after the impregnation in the impregnating apparatus, thus resulting in various problems during the winding operation around a cylindrical winding core tube for subsequent transport and storage purposes. Namely, in the winding step, a winding slippage is likely to be caused by the movement of the compound between the carrier films when the sheet-shaped molding material is wound up in a roll shape due to the pulling force on the material, such winding slippage being caused when the roll diameter is approximately 300 mm or more, and such slippage makes it impossible to effect further winding. Thus, conventionally one roll of the sheet-shaped molding material wound around the cylindrical core tube has a weight of 150-160 kg as its limit, and normally is only 100 kg. However, because the weight of one roll is so low, more time and labor is required for the roll change-over during the production, thus resulting in poor productivity. The number of rolls needed is increased for a press molding operation of large-sized moldings even by a user, which manufactures moldings by the use of this type of molding material. Thus, the weight of one roll should be increased if only for this reason. Especially, as requests for the rationalization of molding processes are recently increased because of higher personnel costs and so on, press molding operations using a molding material such as SMC (sheet molding compound), TMC (thick molding compound), BMC (bulk molding compound) or the like are becoming common, such as the hand lay up method, spray up method requiring many holds as molding methods for the moldings. Furthermore, because the moldings are becoming bigger in size such as bathtubs, water-proof pans, bathtubs with wash basins attached thereto, and so on, molding materials which are bigger, thicker, and wider are being demanded. However, winding is not used for the TMC molding material, because in the case of thick, wide TMC, the weight per unit area becomes larger, the thickness is difficult to make uniform, and winding slippage is likely to result. Therefore, the molding material is supplied in a sheet-shaped casing, which causes a problem that the productivity is lower, and also requirements for larger size sheets are hard to satisfy.